Guizhou hailed as pioneer of nation's big data industry

A visitor checks out a promotional video of the Global Big Data Exchange, China's first such facility, during a high-tech expo in Shanghai. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The mountainous province of Guizhou in Southwest China has become a pioneer in China's big data industry, standing as one of the regions with the biggest number of superlarge data centers globally.

Since Guizhou was approved to host China's first comprehensive big data pilot area in 2016, the development of the big data industry started to gain traction. So far, 37 big data centers have been put into operation or are under construction in Guizhou, and the growth rate of the digital economy in the province ranks tops in China for seven consecutive years, the local government said.

This year, Guiyang, capital of Guizhou, will continue to hold the China International Big Data Industry Expo. The event, scheduled to run from May 26 to 28, will display the achievements of China's big data industry and attract more global resources, the local government said in a news conference in Beijing on Feb 20.

Major technological firms, such as China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp Ltd, Huawei Technology Co and Alibaba's financial arm Ant Group, have confirmed their attendance.

The expo will have exhibition halls that feature digital industries, digital life and innovative scenes, and showcase new technologies, products, solutions and applications in the field of big data. The overall exhibition section will cover over 60,000 square meters.

"The expo will include an opening ceremony, high-end dialogues, professional forums, and hold four competitions, including a big data and network security elite competition and data scenario application innovation competition," Ma Ningyu, mayor of Guiyang, said during the news conference.

"This year is full of hope. The expo will continue to highlight internationalization and industrialization and strive to create distinguished features and highlights," Ma said.

In 2022, the digital economy accounted for 44 percent of the regional GDP growth in Guian New Area and Guiyang. The integration index of big data and the real economy reached 53 percent. Particularly, the software and information technology service sectors' contribution to local economic growth reached 44.5 percent, the local government said.

Meanwhile, the Global Big Data Exchange in Guiyang, founded in 2015 and serving as China's first big data exchange, has been promoting the flow and trade of data resources nationwide.

To explore diversified pricing models and price formation mechanisms that conform to the characteristics of data elements, the Big Data Exchange in Guiyang recently launched the country's first data product trading price calculator under the guidance of the National Development and Reform Commission.

"The application of the transaction price calculator provides enterprises with a transaction pricing reference based on cost. Regular data product valuation can effectively assist companies in analyzing the correlation between data asset value, enterprise value and the cost of data product research and development," said Dai Jianli, deputy general manager of the digital department at the Guizhou branch of China Southern Power Grid.

Zhang Lijun, a partner of PwC China, said such an application provides a guiding framework and reference for a unified pricing mechanism for the transaction of data elements. It is beneficial for industries to optimize the method of determining the transaction price of data products.